WHAT IT IS: A sequel, to my other Trory, What Happens When. Now, I had no
intentions at all to do a sequel. However, you're getting one, because of
all the Jess/Dean/Rory angst currently on the show—it's stressing me out.
So, since I had decided that fluff was probably all I'd get out of a sequel
and fluff is what I need right now (it's either fluff or unbearable angst
coming out of me right now)—here's a sequel.
WHAT I OWN: Nada.
RATING: PG-13, just to be safe. It is fluff after all.
It seemed like the only thing in the world to do was stare at the clock. It didn't matter which clock she looked at, none of them sped the time along any faster. Sighing, she picked up her tattered and obviously well worn copy of The Great Gatsby and tried to lose herself in the green light.
Some time later, the phone rang, returning her to present day New York to answer it. Tristan had a regular little camp made up for her on the couch. On the table next to it, he had the phone, the remote, some magazines, and several books, depending on what mood she was in, and some water. The pillows on the couch were propping her up making her as comfortable as possible. She picked up the phone from off the table.
"Yeah?" she asked sounding rather drained.
"How are you holding up?" came the sympathetic voice on the other end.
"Considering I have a three day old child inside of me, I'm peachy."
"Any day now, I'm sure," Lorelai reassured her.
"Mom, this is Tristan's child we're talking about."
"So?"
"It's going to take its damn time and be stubborn about this. It'll hang around for another week, then take 54 hours to come out."
"Wow, and you willingly had children with a man as stubborn as that!"
"I'm just saying. The Dugrey men are nothing if not obstinate."
"So, you think this is a boy?"
"Mom, please."
"Why won't you tell me? It's past your due date, so rightfully I should know by now."
"Well, I don't officially know either."
"But you're the mother, you're literally hooked up to the kid. You have to know."
"Be that as it may, I'm still not telling. You can find out when everyone else does."
"Man, you're in for trouble. Tristan's not the only obstinate one in your family," Lorelai muttered.
"Not helping."
"Sorry. Okay, I'll let you get back to your waiting game. Will Tristan be home soon?"
"Not tonight, he has some late meeting."
"Call if you need anything. At all."
"I will. Thanks, mom," Rory sighed.
"Not problem. You know Luke would kill me if I didn't call you and make sure you were alright every half hour."
"Uh-huh. It's all Luke, right?"
"Yes, he bugs me incessantly, making me call you and check up."
"Why doesn't he do it himself?"
"Duh--he's Luke."
"Right. I'll talk to you later, Mom."
"Bye, sweetie."
Rory put the phone back on the table and reached for her book. She sat up a little to reposition herself and felt a small pain hit across her back. She moved the pillow behind her so it was more towards her butt, and sat back. Satisfied to have relieved her pain, she opened her book and continued reading. More time went by and yet again, the phone rang. Rolling her eyes, she picked up the phone and answered.
"Yeah?"
"It's me. I just have a minute."
"Hey, Tristan. How's work going?"
"It's okay, but this meeting might go on a little longer than I'd thought. Is that okay?"
"Yeah, it's fine. And don't send Jess over here," she warned.
"Okay, I'll have my cell on just in case."
"Alright. I'll call you if anything happens."
"Good."
"Oh, I have been having some weird back pain."
"Weird back pain?"
"Intermittent. I don't think it's labor, though. It helps when I reposition myself."
"Rory, maybe I should just come home," Tristan said, now a little concerned.
"Really, I'm fine."
"I don't like this, but I'll stay. For now."
"Good boy. Besides, you won't be too much longer, right?"
"Two more hours, probably."
"See, no big deal."
"Alright. I love you."
"I love you too. Now quit yakking with your wife and get back to work," she giggled.
"Yes, ma'am."
She put the phone down and felt yet another pain in her back. She decided maybe it was time to get up and move around a little. She started the process to stand up and eventually managed to make it to her feet. She slipped on her most comfortable flip-flops on stepped out on the porch. As it was now October, thankfully it was a wonderfully cool temperature outside. Definitely light jacket weather. Being pregnant during the summer had not been fun. She couldn't imagine being this pregnant during August, though. She made it to the end of their block before she had a slightly sharper pain than the others. Grimacing, she decided that maybe these pains weren't nothing after all. Perhaps she should head back to the house and call Tristan. Rubbing her low back as best she could with her hand, she slowly made her way back to the house. She decided to remain standing as long as she could, to lessen the having to get up and down. It just wasn't the easiest thing to do alone. She grabbed the phone and dialed Tristan's cell phone. It rang and rang, and then she got some message that said the wireless customer was out of service. Groaning, she hung up and dialed again. Again, she got no answer. She knew he was in a meeting, but she had no idea where he was. Trying his office, she got just his voicemail. Trying not to sound like an alarmist, she just left a short message for him to give her a call when he could. Frustrated, she hit speed dial number two and waited. No one answered at her mom's house, so she hung up on the answering machine.
'Geez, these people call me four hundred times a day, where are they when I need them?' she thought to herself, trying her mother's cell phone.
Finally on the third ring, someone picked up.
"Hello?"
"Luke?"
"Yeah. Rory?"
"Where's my mom?"
"She's right here. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I just need to talk to her."
"Just a second, let me get her. She's talking to Michel, hang on."
Rory waited, as another pain hit her low back. This one radiated down into her legs. She braced herself against the kitchen counter.
"Rory?"
"Yes, it's me."
"What's up?"
"Uh, you know how you've been calling and calling and I keep telling you I'd call you when there was something to tell?"
"Yeah."
"Well, take a clue, Colombo."
"You're in labor?"
"Yeah."
"You're sure?"
"Well, my water hasn't broken, but I'm definitely having contractions."
"Where's Tristan?"
"I can't reach him on his cell phone. I left a message at his office, though."
"Well, try calling Jess and get him to find Tristan. I'm on my way now."
"You don't have to come here now, Mom, it'll be hours before anything happens."
"Are you alone?"
"Yes, but," Rory admitted.
"Then I'm on my way. Do you need anything?"
"Um, no, not right now. Thanks, Mom."
"Call Jess."
Rory nodded, hanging up and immediately dialing Jess' number. It rang a couple of times, and Erin answered the phone.
"Erin, good, it's Rory. Is Jess there?"
"Uh, no he's at work. Do you need something?"
"Well, sort of. I'm in labor, and I can't get a hold of Tristan, so I was hoping Jess could track him down for me."
"I'll do it. Where do you think he is?"
Rory gave her the couple of places she thought his meeting might have been at, and thanked her before hanging up. Now she had to wait. After a moment, she remembered that she should probably try to get Lane on the way sooner than later. She called her, the one person that was easy to track down. They giggled and screamed a little and Lane promised to get on the first flight to New York. Then she called Paris, who couldn't get away because she was in the middle of a rotation, but she wanted to be called the second the kid was out and named.
By the time Lorelai got there, she had relented to sit down and wait to hear something from Tristan. It had only been an hour, and the contractions weren't really getting any closer together, but they were getting a little bit more intense. Using her key so Rory wouldn't have to get up, Lorelai came in and hugged her uncomfortable daughter.
"Thanks for coming, Mom."
"Hey, you're in labor, where else would I be? Any word from Tristan?"
"No. I called Jess, but only got Erin. She's on the hunt as we speak. Oh, and Lane is going to be on a plane as soon as she can."
Lorelai nodded. There was nothing to do, other than make Rory as comfortable as possible. The phone rang, so Lorelai grabbed it.
"Hello? ... Hey, where've you been? ... Didn't Erin call you? ... Well, Rory's starting labor. ... No, wait, can you stay and pick up Lane from the airport?"
Rory listened to the conversation, hoping it was Tristan, but realizing it had to be Jess. She leaned back and continued to listen as her mom gave Jess Lane's flight information. Lorelai got off the phone and smiled.
"Well, killed two birds with one stone."
"I knew you were going to be useful for something."
"Hah. So, how far is it to the hospital?"
"It only takes about fifteen minutes."
"And you have a bag packed?"
"Hello, who are you talking to?"
"Right. Where is the bag?"
"In the hall closet."
"Okay. What else?"
"Well, we don't need to call Dr. Matthews until my water breaks, so nothing."
Rory looked sort of bored, and kept staring at the phone. Lorelai knew she just wanted Tristan to call. She decided she should keep her busy.
"So, Luke wants us to call the moment we head to the hospital. Sookie and Jackson are going to take Will, so we can be here as long as it takes. Will wants you to name the baby after him, by the way."
"Tell me you're kidding."
"Nope. He said Will for a boy, then I asked what happens if it's a girl, and he thought for a second before coming up with Wilma," Lorelai looked at Rory with a pointed look, between amusement and disgust.
"Wow. That's just bad."
"I know," Lorelai giggled.
"So, why did Luke have your cell phone?"
"Oh, earlier?"
"Yeah. I was trying to call everyone and not getting anyone."
"Well, I was at the Inn, and Luke showed up to drop off Will for the afternoon, a transaction that you voided, my dear girl. Anyway, so I was at the front desk, with Michel, and we were checking in a wedding party and trying to book this function for Mom on the phone, and when my cell phone rang, I threw it at Luke to answer it. I thought it might be you, and I didn't want you to get no answer if you were in labor, so I chucked it."
"Nice."
"Luckily, he can catch flying objects hurling towards him really well."
"Why do I get the impression that you had a great deal to do with this ability in Luke?"
"Hey! I don't throw things at him on a regular basis!"
"Right," Rory giggled.
The phone rang again, and Lorelai answered it, again. She smiled and handed over the phone to Rory.
"Tristan?"
"Rory? You're in labor?"
"Yeah, pre-labor. Nothing serious, but you should come home," she informed him.
"I'm already on my way, I'm just dropping Erin off now."
"Okay. Jess is going to pick up Lane from JFK later."
"Good. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, Mom's here, so I'm good. Just, hurry," she added, smiling in relief.
She hung up and looked at her mom. Lorelai smiled at her daughter, and patted her arm.
"So, he's coming?"
"Yeah, he's on his way."
"Good. How about a movie?"
"Sounds good."
By the time Tristan got home, Rory and Lorelai were in the middle of Drowning Mona. Lorelai had decided they should go pure comedy, to take their minds off the current situation as much as possible. He came in and rushed over to Rory, kissing her and holding her hand. She smiled at him, and asked him to help her stand up for a minute, so she could stretch her legs. She paced a little, as she filled Tristan in on what exactly was going on with her contractions. She decided to go into the kitchen for some water, leaving Tristan and Lorelai to watch the movie.
"She's doing great," Lorelai said, glancing over at Tristan who looked a little nervous.
"I know. This isn't the hardest part, though."
"No, I'd say squeezing a child out of you is quite a bit more difficult than having some back spasms."
"She's going to be fine, though," he sounded as if he were trying to convince himself of the words he was uttering.
"This happens everyday. If I can do it, twice, she can definitely do this."
Tristan nodded, and tried to concentrate on the movie. They sat in silence for a moment until they heard a squeak coming from the kitchen.
"Rory?" Lorelai called as they both hurried to her.
"I think it's about that time," Rory said, looking down at the floor.
"Yeah, I'd say so," Lorelai agreed, seeing the fluid on the floor under Rory.
"Ew," Tristan added. Lorelai and Rory both shot him a look. "Sorry. Let's get you to the car. Lorelai, can you grab her bag, it's in the--,"
"Hall closet, I'm on it!" she said, running towards the closet.
Tristan started to help Rory towards the garage. He wrapped an arm around her waist, and slowly they made their way to the car.
"This is it," she said apprehensively.
"Yeah, this is it," he smiled, trying to calm both his and her nerves.
AN: for all of you who've been waiting for it, now she's in labor! Woo-hoo!
WHAT I OWN: Nada.
RATING: PG-13, just to be safe. It is fluff after all.
It seemed like the only thing in the world to do was stare at the clock. It didn't matter which clock she looked at, none of them sped the time along any faster. Sighing, she picked up her tattered and obviously well worn copy of The Great Gatsby and tried to lose herself in the green light.
Some time later, the phone rang, returning her to present day New York to answer it. Tristan had a regular little camp made up for her on the couch. On the table next to it, he had the phone, the remote, some magazines, and several books, depending on what mood she was in, and some water. The pillows on the couch were propping her up making her as comfortable as possible. She picked up the phone from off the table.
"Yeah?" she asked sounding rather drained.
"How are you holding up?" came the sympathetic voice on the other end.
"Considering I have a three day old child inside of me, I'm peachy."
"Any day now, I'm sure," Lorelai reassured her.
"Mom, this is Tristan's child we're talking about."
"So?"
"It's going to take its damn time and be stubborn about this. It'll hang around for another week, then take 54 hours to come out."
"Wow, and you willingly had children with a man as stubborn as that!"
"I'm just saying. The Dugrey men are nothing if not obstinate."
"So, you think this is a boy?"
"Mom, please."
"Why won't you tell me? It's past your due date, so rightfully I should know by now."
"Well, I don't officially know either."
"But you're the mother, you're literally hooked up to the kid. You have to know."
"Be that as it may, I'm still not telling. You can find out when everyone else does."
"Man, you're in for trouble. Tristan's not the only obstinate one in your family," Lorelai muttered.
"Not helping."
"Sorry. Okay, I'll let you get back to your waiting game. Will Tristan be home soon?"
"Not tonight, he has some late meeting."
"Call if you need anything. At all."
"I will. Thanks, mom," Rory sighed.
"Not problem. You know Luke would kill me if I didn't call you and make sure you were alright every half hour."
"Uh-huh. It's all Luke, right?"
"Yes, he bugs me incessantly, making me call you and check up."
"Why doesn't he do it himself?"
"Duh--he's Luke."
"Right. I'll talk to you later, Mom."
"Bye, sweetie."
Rory put the phone back on the table and reached for her book. She sat up a little to reposition herself and felt a small pain hit across her back. She moved the pillow behind her so it was more towards her butt, and sat back. Satisfied to have relieved her pain, she opened her book and continued reading. More time went by and yet again, the phone rang. Rolling her eyes, she picked up the phone and answered.
"Yeah?"
"It's me. I just have a minute."
"Hey, Tristan. How's work going?"
"It's okay, but this meeting might go on a little longer than I'd thought. Is that okay?"
"Yeah, it's fine. And don't send Jess over here," she warned.
"Okay, I'll have my cell on just in case."
"Alright. I'll call you if anything happens."
"Good."
"Oh, I have been having some weird back pain."
"Weird back pain?"
"Intermittent. I don't think it's labor, though. It helps when I reposition myself."
"Rory, maybe I should just come home," Tristan said, now a little concerned.
"Really, I'm fine."
"I don't like this, but I'll stay. For now."
"Good boy. Besides, you won't be too much longer, right?"
"Two more hours, probably."
"See, no big deal."
"Alright. I love you."
"I love you too. Now quit yakking with your wife and get back to work," she giggled.
"Yes, ma'am."
She put the phone down and felt yet another pain in her back. She decided maybe it was time to get up and move around a little. She started the process to stand up and eventually managed to make it to her feet. She slipped on her most comfortable flip-flops on stepped out on the porch. As it was now October, thankfully it was a wonderfully cool temperature outside. Definitely light jacket weather. Being pregnant during the summer had not been fun. She couldn't imagine being this pregnant during August, though. She made it to the end of their block before she had a slightly sharper pain than the others. Grimacing, she decided that maybe these pains weren't nothing after all. Perhaps she should head back to the house and call Tristan. Rubbing her low back as best she could with her hand, she slowly made her way back to the house. She decided to remain standing as long as she could, to lessen the having to get up and down. It just wasn't the easiest thing to do alone. She grabbed the phone and dialed Tristan's cell phone. It rang and rang, and then she got some message that said the wireless customer was out of service. Groaning, she hung up and dialed again. Again, she got no answer. She knew he was in a meeting, but she had no idea where he was. Trying his office, she got just his voicemail. Trying not to sound like an alarmist, she just left a short message for him to give her a call when he could. Frustrated, she hit speed dial number two and waited. No one answered at her mom's house, so she hung up on the answering machine.
'Geez, these people call me four hundred times a day, where are they when I need them?' she thought to herself, trying her mother's cell phone.
Finally on the third ring, someone picked up.
"Hello?"
"Luke?"
"Yeah. Rory?"
"Where's my mom?"
"She's right here. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I just need to talk to her."
"Just a second, let me get her. She's talking to Michel, hang on."
Rory waited, as another pain hit her low back. This one radiated down into her legs. She braced herself against the kitchen counter.
"Rory?"
"Yes, it's me."
"What's up?"
"Uh, you know how you've been calling and calling and I keep telling you I'd call you when there was something to tell?"
"Yeah."
"Well, take a clue, Colombo."
"You're in labor?"
"Yeah."
"You're sure?"
"Well, my water hasn't broken, but I'm definitely having contractions."
"Where's Tristan?"
"I can't reach him on his cell phone. I left a message at his office, though."
"Well, try calling Jess and get him to find Tristan. I'm on my way now."
"You don't have to come here now, Mom, it'll be hours before anything happens."
"Are you alone?"
"Yes, but," Rory admitted.
"Then I'm on my way. Do you need anything?"
"Um, no, not right now. Thanks, Mom."
"Call Jess."
Rory nodded, hanging up and immediately dialing Jess' number. It rang a couple of times, and Erin answered the phone.
"Erin, good, it's Rory. Is Jess there?"
"Uh, no he's at work. Do you need something?"
"Well, sort of. I'm in labor, and I can't get a hold of Tristan, so I was hoping Jess could track him down for me."
"I'll do it. Where do you think he is?"
Rory gave her the couple of places she thought his meeting might have been at, and thanked her before hanging up. Now she had to wait. After a moment, she remembered that she should probably try to get Lane on the way sooner than later. She called her, the one person that was easy to track down. They giggled and screamed a little and Lane promised to get on the first flight to New York. Then she called Paris, who couldn't get away because she was in the middle of a rotation, but she wanted to be called the second the kid was out and named.
By the time Lorelai got there, she had relented to sit down and wait to hear something from Tristan. It had only been an hour, and the contractions weren't really getting any closer together, but they were getting a little bit more intense. Using her key so Rory wouldn't have to get up, Lorelai came in and hugged her uncomfortable daughter.
"Thanks for coming, Mom."
"Hey, you're in labor, where else would I be? Any word from Tristan?"
"No. I called Jess, but only got Erin. She's on the hunt as we speak. Oh, and Lane is going to be on a plane as soon as she can."
Lorelai nodded. There was nothing to do, other than make Rory as comfortable as possible. The phone rang, so Lorelai grabbed it.
"Hello? ... Hey, where've you been? ... Didn't Erin call you? ... Well, Rory's starting labor. ... No, wait, can you stay and pick up Lane from the airport?"
Rory listened to the conversation, hoping it was Tristan, but realizing it had to be Jess. She leaned back and continued to listen as her mom gave Jess Lane's flight information. Lorelai got off the phone and smiled.
"Well, killed two birds with one stone."
"I knew you were going to be useful for something."
"Hah. So, how far is it to the hospital?"
"It only takes about fifteen minutes."
"And you have a bag packed?"
"Hello, who are you talking to?"
"Right. Where is the bag?"
"In the hall closet."
"Okay. What else?"
"Well, we don't need to call Dr. Matthews until my water breaks, so nothing."
Rory looked sort of bored, and kept staring at the phone. Lorelai knew she just wanted Tristan to call. She decided she should keep her busy.
"So, Luke wants us to call the moment we head to the hospital. Sookie and Jackson are going to take Will, so we can be here as long as it takes. Will wants you to name the baby after him, by the way."
"Tell me you're kidding."
"Nope. He said Will for a boy, then I asked what happens if it's a girl, and he thought for a second before coming up with Wilma," Lorelai looked at Rory with a pointed look, between amusement and disgust.
"Wow. That's just bad."
"I know," Lorelai giggled.
"So, why did Luke have your cell phone?"
"Oh, earlier?"
"Yeah. I was trying to call everyone and not getting anyone."
"Well, I was at the Inn, and Luke showed up to drop off Will for the afternoon, a transaction that you voided, my dear girl. Anyway, so I was at the front desk, with Michel, and we were checking in a wedding party and trying to book this function for Mom on the phone, and when my cell phone rang, I threw it at Luke to answer it. I thought it might be you, and I didn't want you to get no answer if you were in labor, so I chucked it."
"Nice."
"Luckily, he can catch flying objects hurling towards him really well."
"Why do I get the impression that you had a great deal to do with this ability in Luke?"
"Hey! I don't throw things at him on a regular basis!"
"Right," Rory giggled.
The phone rang again, and Lorelai answered it, again. She smiled and handed over the phone to Rory.
"Tristan?"
"Rory? You're in labor?"
"Yeah, pre-labor. Nothing serious, but you should come home," she informed him.
"I'm already on my way, I'm just dropping Erin off now."
"Okay. Jess is going to pick up Lane from JFK later."
"Good. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, Mom's here, so I'm good. Just, hurry," she added, smiling in relief.
She hung up and looked at her mom. Lorelai smiled at her daughter, and patted her arm.
"So, he's coming?"
"Yeah, he's on his way."
"Good. How about a movie?"
"Sounds good."
By the time Tristan got home, Rory and Lorelai were in the middle of Drowning Mona. Lorelai had decided they should go pure comedy, to take their minds off the current situation as much as possible. He came in and rushed over to Rory, kissing her and holding her hand. She smiled at him, and asked him to help her stand up for a minute, so she could stretch her legs. She paced a little, as she filled Tristan in on what exactly was going on with her contractions. She decided to go into the kitchen for some water, leaving Tristan and Lorelai to watch the movie.
"She's doing great," Lorelai said, glancing over at Tristan who looked a little nervous.
"I know. This isn't the hardest part, though."
"No, I'd say squeezing a child out of you is quite a bit more difficult than having some back spasms."
"She's going to be fine, though," he sounded as if he were trying to convince himself of the words he was uttering.
"This happens everyday. If I can do it, twice, she can definitely do this."
Tristan nodded, and tried to concentrate on the movie. They sat in silence for a moment until they heard a squeak coming from the kitchen.
"Rory?" Lorelai called as they both hurried to her.
"I think it's about that time," Rory said, looking down at the floor.
"Yeah, I'd say so," Lorelai agreed, seeing the fluid on the floor under Rory.
"Ew," Tristan added. Lorelai and Rory both shot him a look. "Sorry. Let's get you to the car. Lorelai, can you grab her bag, it's in the--,"
"Hall closet, I'm on it!" she said, running towards the closet.
Tristan started to help Rory towards the garage. He wrapped an arm around her waist, and slowly they made their way to the car.
"This is it," she said apprehensively.
"Yeah, this is it," he smiled, trying to calm both his and her nerves.
AN: for all of you who've been waiting for it, now she's in labor! Woo-hoo!